From what I am seeing there is an explosion of DSP algorithms. What I got from Duda, was just use some. Don’t try to comprehend it – at least not all of it always, immediately.
It is hard to make the case to builders on the forum as to why the Reface library is so important. We put so much stock in the idea that a car owner who understands their car is competent. However, as talent increases, you want a good driver and a good mechanic and it is really amazing to do both at a high level, but also pretty rare.
I want to produce beautiful finished tracks often (a goal not a claim). If I was building tools I don’t think I would be “driving” enough to actually get a shot at the podium. I figure its probably fun for the racing team if they have a driver that might actually have a shot. This is not to say that I am a good driver or that I have a shot. But there has to be lots of us trying for there to even be a race.
I think some front forward offerings can seem bloated and gerrymandered underneath. The thing is though, either a filter sounds good or it doesn’t. Just the inclusion of a drive knob on the filter is a very useful feature, for example.
If I get up to perform a set, some people might know I made this tool or that tool. But really either the song is good or it isn’t. I think its a bad idea to overly emphasize DIY, just as it is somewhat empty to simply scour the tech news feeds for gear and play and throw away.
Seems to me that someone would almost have to be in good brain shape (solving equations daily) to hit those “newer” reverb algorithms. However, due to the large amount of people doing just that over the last few years, I expect there are a lot of usable math bits laying about.
I also think that because these DSP concepts are logical, even if Audulus 4 is coming, there is no wasted time working on reverb.
I like that we have two in the reface library. One that I can drop here and there, but then a larger spacial one. I wish I could work on this stuff, as it must be really fun when you build it and it sounds good. But I do think there is merit in self-limiting and sticking to a few specific interests over decades and just developing those specific roles.
I should add, I am reading this – which gets to some of the more nuanced issues with DSP rights.